


Forever Undone

by Lady_Therion



Category: The Folk of the Air - Holly Black
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:53:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23601868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Therion/pseuds/Lady_Therion
Summary: Cardan can never be without his queen.
Relationships: Jude Duarte/Cardan Greenbriar
Comments: 7
Kudos: 277





	Forever Undone

Some things never change. 

Cardan, for example, was still a spoiled and selfish wretch. The victories won and loyalties gained since he took his crown mattered not. The king had his vices and would take pleasure in them. His council and court be damned. 

Chief among those vices, of course, was his queen. 

The king’s naked affection was the subject of much gossip among the gentry. Anyone who came to the palace could see that he was utterly besotted with her. When seated upon their thrones, he would often clasp her hand, kissing her fingers even as they received petitioners. When they greeted foreign delegates, he would wrap an arm around her waist as though laying claim to some rare and coveted treasure. And when they commenced their revels, the king’s tail would unabashedly twine itself around her thigh or calf. 

_Shocking_. Not even Eldred, for all his benevolence, had bestowed such lavish favor to his consorts. 

But for better or worse, Cardan was not his father. 

The queen, however, bore her husband’s fondness with little patience. It was not an unusual sight to see her swatting him away, as one would with an overbearing cat. Of course, this sent the whole court tittering. The king has been known to flog subjects for less. But the king would not be deterred by his queen’s behavior. In fact, he seemed all the more resolute, preening and purring until her attention honed in on him like an arrow.

Jude alone understood why her husband was so jealous for her regard. The memories she had glimpsed of Cardan as a child, neglected and utterly alone, made her bristle. How glad she was to be rid of her mother-in-law’s presence. 

Still, this was Faerie, where one did not have the luxury of taking pity. Not even for the king. So instead, she put on a show of being the harried wife. The sharper and more brutal edge to his smooth and subtle one. _The hospitality of knives._

Perhaps one day, the Folk would change their ways as Cardan made good on his promise to herald a different sort of reign for their people. But that change would be hard won and a long way off yet.

Until then, Jude would indulge her husband in private. 

So when dawn came and the revelers drifted away from the burgh, Jude asked her king how she may attend him in earnest.

“Come here,” he said, his voice tinged with lust. 

He coaxed her onto his throne, into his lap, her gown rustling as his fingers began their fevered exploration. There was not an inch of skin he hadn’t worshipped since they began sharing their bed for true. He had mapped her so thoroughly, had marked all his favorite places, the ones that made her gasp and cry and keen. What would the court make of their vicious queen now, straddling her husband’s lap like some wanton harlot? 

“You know that most of them wouldn’t say a thing,” he murmured, undoing her clasps and laces. “They wouldn’t dare.” Jude didn’t realize that she had spoken her question aloud. But she supposed her husband was right. The Folk were not shy when it came to passion. “I could have you on the table,” he went on, leaving burning kisses down her collarbone. “And no one could tell me otherwise.” She arched as he suckled one of her nipples, fervently, as though he had been longing to do it all night. “No one except for you.” 

It was a heady thing. To still have this much power over him. 

And this time, it was power freely given.

Somehow, the two of them had made their way to their feast table. Cardan had carried her there, their clothes discarded with every step. He spread her out on the wooden surface, every press of his lips was a bruising and carnal pledge. They were both naked now, their hair in disarray, their pupils dark with need. 

Dishes and half-eaten food clattered onto the floor and he opened her thighs to trace the red flush of her skin with this tongue. “If I had my way, I would begin our revels just like this.” Jude writhed. _Oh god. His mouth._ How she loved and hated him for it. “I would announce a toast just as I do every night, but instead of drinking my wine, I would drink my wife. I would make love to you with my mouth and make everyone bear witness. Would you like that, my dearest adversary? Tell me yes.” 

Yes, she would like it but she would never give him the satisfaction of saying so (a favorite game of theirs). Instead, she opened herself wider so that he could lap at her with leisure. He set a punishing pace, tortuously patient, as though he were savoring some divine fruit. Sometimes Jude thought that he knew her a little too well, which frightened her. But then again, she knew him well too. There were no secrets between them now.

“This is what I want,” she said, lunging for him after he made her come violently (there would be scratches that they would admire tomorrow). And this time, _she_ was the one to throw him down onto the table. “To have all eyes on me as I take the High King and make him beg for more.” Then he groaned in relief, in reverence, as she sunk down onto his waiting cock. 

“Yes, yes please,” he cried as he matched her thrust for thrust. She took him in deep. Then even deeper, relishing the thickness of him, the slick sounds they made. Cardan was demanding, perhaps more so in this than his other royal obligations. But his wife was always ready to meet his challenge—something she made sure he would be forever grateful for. 

“I can never do without you,” he whispered, clutching her close as he spent himself inside her. The wave of their rapture sent them crashing. A height of pleasure so blissful that neither of them would come down from it for hours. “Never, ever.” 

She could never do without him either and even that revelation thrilled her sometimes. To be so entwined with another being was something she could have never imagined. So she held him close, in an embrace more intimate than anything they had done so far. How much of their armor had they set aside for one another? How much more would they give? Their devotion seemed unending.

Because as long as she stood by her husband, Jude would be forever undone. 


End file.
